PENNSVILLE TOWNSHIP -- Representatives for the Pennsville School District came together Monday night to tie any loose ends to be ready for several key public events concerning the upcoming multi-million dollar bond referendums.

The meeting followed the board of education meeting in the administration building.

At the meeting were representatives from the board of education, district administration, outside consulting firms (public relations and engineering) and members of the referendum task force.

"The goal of the meeting was to update key communicators. It was an opportunity for individuals to present any concerns from the community and to update them with any changes," said Superintendent Dr. Mark Jones.

The group talked about Septemberfest, Back to School Night, and the Sept. 25 public forum. All events will educate the public prior to the vote on Sept. 30 on the two referendums.

To handle any public information, the district hired Zander Consulting firm for a one-year contract in the amount of $27,840 that began in Oct. 2007.

The school in the past hired an outside firm to handle public relations, which helped to pass the budget for the 2006-2007 school year. Many people were upset, however, that the district paid for that when public relations could have been done in-house.

"Some folks will believe that we should not pay for anything other than education in the classroom. But our specialty is not public relations," said Jones.

Currently, Zander has information on the referendums posted at www.pennsville.k12.nj.us, and will provide district representatives with handouts and fact sheets before events.

"A newsletter will be mailed by the week of Sept. 23," said Allison Cofone, referendum project manager from Zander Consulting. "We want to make sure that residents have the information before the public meeting."

The proposed referendum total is valued at approximately $41 million and is actually separated into two referendums.

The first, for improvements to the high school, is valued at $37.4 million, of which taxpayers would be responsible for $24.7 million.

The second referendum for the elementary schools is for $4 million and will only pass if the first one passes as well. Taxpayers would be responsible for $2.4 million.

So the total taxpayer responsibility, if both proposals pass, is approximately $27.2 million.

The middle school is not included in the referendum.

If both pass, the tax rate would increase approximately .0023 cents per $100 of assessed property value and the average residents will pay a total of $7,500 total in the 25 year life of the bond, officials said. The current tax rate from the school is $2.27 per $100.

At Septemberfest, the district will have a booth in the Riverview Beach Park. At the booth, representatives will answer questions and have other information on the referendum.

At each school's respective Back to School Night, the district will give a brief information session.

"I will speak to the scope of the project for 10 minutes," said Jones. "I want to make sure everyone knows what is important before Sept. 25 (the public meeting on the referendum)."

Jones explained that at the Back to School Nights, the talks will be brief because the night is for parents to learn about their children.

On Sept. 25, there will be a public meeting in the high school auditorium beginning at 7 p.m.

"They (referendums) do pass up and down the state," said Ronald Ianoale, district solicitor. "Seven out of ten are approved."